Belt buckle



L. W. SHIELDS.

BELT BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-9. I920.

1,409,596. Patented Mal- 14; 1922.

W M a: ATTORNEYJ' I INV TOR. BY

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LOWELL w. SHIELDS, or noonnsrnnnnw YORK, AssIenoR TO HICKOKYMANUIFAC- v TUBING COMPANY, me, or nooz-insrna, NEW roan, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

BELT BUCKLE.

Application filed September 9, 1920.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LownLL lV. SHIELDS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belt Buckles, of which the following is a specification; Y

The present invention relates to belt buckles and more particularly to the type in which a frame is provided having a front plate and slotted guide flanges on which a clamping member operates, an object of this invention being to provide a belt buckle which may be inexpensively manufactured. Another object of the invention is to so form the guide flanges that a slotted clamping'membcr operating thereon will, in its inner'position, cooperate with the rear face of the front wall to prevent the passage of the strap end between the clamping member and the front wall and in its outer position will cause the strap end to be clamped against the front .wall and produce a' bend in the strap and the slot in the clamping member. when in its inner position, being so positioned that the belt end may be readily passed. through such slot.

To these and othor ends the invention consists of certain parts and combinations of parts, all of which will be hereinafter dcscribed. the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

' In the drawingszf Fign il is a front face view of a belt buckle with fragments of a belt secured thereto;

Fig. 2 is a rear face view of the buckle;

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the buckle;

Fi t is an end view of the buckle:

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section showing the clamping member in its inner position:

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing the clamping member movingtoward its outer position;

Fig. 7 is an edge view of another embodiment of this, invention Fig. 8 is a rear face view of the cmbodi ment shown in Fig. 7:

Figs. 9 and 10 are fragmentary sectional views showing respectively. the clamping: member-in its inner and its outer position: and

Fiat 11 is a detail view of the sliding clamp showing: the manner in which the lot- I specification of James nt. .Iatonted Mar. 14, 1922.

Serial No. 409,102.

ier is formed before" connection frame.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention shown iii-Figs. 1 to 6, 1 indicates the front plate of the buckle frame, said frame also embodying two side flanges 2 which are preferably formed. from one piece of sheet metal stock with the front plate 1. A swinging loop 3 is pivotally connected to the side flanges near one end of the buckle and serves to anchor one end of the belt or strap. i i' The side flanges 2 are also provided with guides which in this instance, are in the form of curved or arcuate slots 4, the ends of these slots being nearer to the front plate 1- than the intermediate portions of the slots. Operable on these guides is a slotted clamping member which. in this instance is formed from a single piece of rod bent to provide a clamping portion 5 at its central portion and a portion 6 formed by the two ends of the rod and lying, parallel with the clamping portion Connecting portions 7 connect the parallel portion and provide a slot or space 8 between the parallel portions. 'lhcsc connecting portions are flattened so that shoulders 7 are provided which prevent the longitudinal movement of the clamping member. The form of this clamping momlKl permits its being fitted to the frame with case as by shaping the same as indicated in full lines in Fig. 11 before being fitted to the frame its connecting portions 7 may be brouqht. closer together and thereafter separated by straightening the portions 5 and 6 into parallelism as shown in dotted lines;

In the operation. the portion 6. when the clamping: member is in its inner position. l cs against the inner face of the front plate 1 and the space or slot in the clamping member is positioncd as indicated in Fig. 2 so that the belt cnd may be readily passed throuxrh the slot. Thec-lamping member is then moved toward the outer end of the slot and this causes the clamping portion 5 to press the belt end against the inner face of the front plate 1. the belt end also heinL bent or deflected as indicated in Fig. 6. thus eflectivelv securing" the belt end to the buckle.

Tn the embodiment shown in Figs. 7 to 10 the front plate 1 has its side flanges 2 formed with slots 4. These slots 4 have outer portions which incline with reference to the with the plane of the front plate 1 and inner portions which lie at a greater angle to the front plate than the .outer portions. The clamping memberis formed similarly to the one illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 and comprises a clamping portion 5 and a portion 6 parallel therewith, a slot 8 being provided between said portions. The portions 5 and 6 are in turn connected by'flattened connecting portions 7 and the whole is formed from 'a single piece of rod stock. When the clamping member is at the inner ends of the slots 4, the portions 6 will lie close to the front plate 1 and prevent the belt end being passed between said portions 6 and the front plate while the slot S Wlll be so positioned that it may receive such belt end. When the clamping member moves toward the outer ends of the guide slots 6, the portion 5 'will'move toward the front plate and clamp the belt end against such front plate, the belt'end at the same time being bent or deflected by the portion 6 as indicated in Fig. 10.

In both embodiments of the invention the clamping member is formed from a single piece of rod bent to provide two parallel portions forming a belt receiving slot between them. These parallel portions are connected by flattened end or connecting portions which move in the guide slots of the buckle frame. This construction of the clampingslide not only is inexpensive to manufacture, but by bending the parallel portions outwardly as shown in Fig. 11, it is possible to provide for the ready connection of the clamping member with the buckleframe.

In one embodiment of the invention the guide slots are curved or arcuate and their ends are disposed nearer to the front plate of the buckle than their intermediate portions. By this arrangementthe clamping member is caused, when at the inner end of the slots,- to be so disposed that the passage of the belt between the clamping member and the clamping plate is prevented, while the entrance of the belt in the slot of the clamping member is facilitated. When the clamping member is moved toward the outer end of the slot, that parallel portion of the clamping member which is nearest to the outer end of the buckle effects the clamping while at the same time the other portion produces a bend or deflection in the belt end.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1 A belt buckle comprising a frame formed by a front plate and slotted side flanges, and a clamping slide formed from a single piece of rod bent to provide two elongated spaced parallel portions and connecting ends having flattened portions operating in-the slotted side flanges, one of said parallel portions being movable to clamp the belt against the rear face of the front plate and the other acting to produce :a bend in a belt passed between said parallel portions.

2. A belt buckle comprising a frame formed by a front plate and side flanges, said side flanges having guides the ends of which are disposed nearer the front plate than the intermediate portions of said guides, and a slotted clamping member m-ov able on said guides to a position in which the slotwill be disposed for threadinga belt through such slot and one side of the clamping member will cooperate with the rear face of the front plate to prevent the belt being passsed between the clamp and the front plate.

3. A belt buckle comprising a frame formed by a front plate, a clamping slide provided with a slot, and means for supporting said slide for sliding movement on the frame so that when the slide is moving inwardly, the inner side thereof will cooperate with the rear face of the front plate and the slot will be disposed so as to receive the belt and when the slide is moved outwardly the outer side of the slide will cooperate with the inner face of the front plate to clamp the belt portion extending throughthe slide slot.

W. SHIELDS. 

